Vance Kelly

By the mid-1990s Vance Kelly had already spent more than twenty-five years as a fixture on the Chicago blues scene, yet only then did his reputation begin to extend beyond the United States. Born on January 24, 1954, he first drew notice on the South Side club circuit while still a teenager, working both under his own name and as a supporting player. In the course of those years he forged a clear, ringing tone on guitar, while his three-year stint from 1987 to 1990 in A.C. Reed’s Sparkplugs helped shape the supple character of his singing voice. Although fellow musicians held him in high regard, Kelly and his Backstreet Blues Band remained unsigned until 1992, when Wolf Records finally offered a contract. The label issued his well-received first album, Call Me, in 1994, and followed it a year later with Joyriding on the Subway. Kelly returned to the studio in 2000 for What Three Old Ladies Can Do. His sixth Wolf release, the 2005 album Nobody Has the Power, marked the recording debut of his daughter Vivian, who contributed vocals to three tracks.